DOW Medical University caught selling confidential data of students

DOW Medical University is one of the most established and recognized medical institutes, well-known for the quality of education they are offering. They have maintained their monopoly being the best school for aspiring doctors in Karachi. So imagine, the dreams and passion that the student has burning inside them when they walk through the gates of that university to give their admission test?

Rabia Aziz shares on Facebook that she was receiving messages from people in Thatta, which is about 100 km away from her residential location. She says that after consistently receiving messages and being asked about where she studies, she responded and was shocked to know how the people got her phone number.

Rightfully labeling it as a ‘breach of confidentiality’, Rabia says that she got messages from three different numbers, who sent her passport size pictures and snaps of her DMC admission form to her. She came to know that their admission forms were later sold to ‘old paper sellers’ or Radhi paper. She was not the only one, in fact, many other forms were similarly sold as well.

My name is Rabia Aziz. Like thousands of applicants I applied to DOW MEDICAL UNIVERSITY last year for admission .They are the one of most renowned and prestigious institutions whose reputation of being the best medical college in karachi causes thousands of students to apply. My application was unsuccessful and I currently study in another reputable institution.

On the, 1st of March I receieved messages on my whatsapp from 3 different unknown numbers. They sent me my passport sized photo and a copy of my DMC admission form. They said my form was among many others lying within piles of scrapped paper. You can imagine my shock and panic as my form contained my name, NIC number, phone numbers address. All this information is given to the universities because they are trusted by the students. I never expected that an institution like DMC would mishandle our information. Due to their lack of responsibility our information has been compromised. I wonder how many forms their administration has sold to the radhi paper wala. All 3 of the people who contacted me said to ask why this university did this and why I was not careful enough.

Dear DMC admin I ask you, for how long has this been going on and how can u commit such a huge breach of confidentiality? Even if our forms were supposed to be disposed off why were they not shredded or destroyed? Is a meager amount of profit worth destroying the trust of thousands of students?

Please see the screen shots of my conversation with these contacts.

If any of you can get this across to the dmc please let me know. Others can suggest what to do now.”

Rabia shared these images in Facebook posts. You can also see these photos on her facebook timeline.

It is distressing to see how such reputed institutions have zero consideration about privacy and confidentiality of a student. The forms included sensitive and personal details, like phone numbers, addresses, and identity card details as well. Even after the story going viral on social media, the university has yet to come up with their explanation or apology for such carelessness.